Creating Memorable Characters (the Cheater Way)

(Or Part Three of the Fanfiction Writing Workshop Series.

If you are just joining us, the series starts here)

 

One of the biggest benefits to using fanfiction as a writing springboard is the chance to start writing with premade characters. Believable, sympathetic characters must populate your stories. Readers need to feel like they are meeting real people with issues they care about. Unfortunately, doing this is hard. You have to practice characterization in order to avoid things like the info dump and having characters tell their life stories to others.

With fanfiction, you get to play in someone else’s sandbox and use all their toys. Your readers already know these characters and already feel sympathy for them. The challenge then becomes taking a well-known character and putting him/her into a new situation in your fic while keeping that person in character.

For instance, I am a huge fan of the ABC show “Once Upon a Time.” The character Belle has lost her memory at the moment, but her basic personality is still intact. This provides a perfect fanfiction opportunity to have her meet new people and react to new situations but still be the same person.

For instance, what if Hook decided now was a good time to get some revenge on Rumplestiltskin by stealing Belle away from him? How would she react to Hook? Could a writer present these characters in this new situation in such a way that everyone reading would still recognize Belle and Hook? If Belle did not sound and act like Belle in this fic, readers would not hesitate to call her OOC (out of character) in reviews.

A huge subset of fanfiction in any fandom are the AU or Alternate Universe fics. These take our characters and keep them intact while putting them in an alternate reality. For instance, what if the cast of Star Wars all went to high school together in California? Can you imagine Darth Vader as high school principal? Could you make this person still recognizable as Darth Vader to your readers?

Another type of fic that lets writers move characters about is the crossover. Why not throw Sawyer from Lost right in the middle of Game of Thrones? Or how about slipping Ferris Beuller into CSI: New York? The challenge of the crossover is to mix two fandoms while keeping each one intact and recognizable. If Sawyer doesn’t talk and act like Sawyer anymore, then you’ve just appropriated the name and not the essence and your readers will balk.

So your task for the week is to write a short piece that pushes you to improve your characterization skills. It’s not enough to just say in the introduction, “This is Princess Leia.” You’ve got to make everybody reading know that this is her from the ground up and have her react to something new and different in ways only she would react.

More to come next week!

Overcoming Submission Anxiety (One R&R at a Time)

Or, Using Fanfiction as a Creative Writing Workshop Part 2 (Part 1 link here)

Well, you finished it. You’ve read it over and over and had your high school English teacher proof it for errors. Now it’s time to submit.

And you freeze. What if they don’t like it? What if it comes back with a nasty note? What if it doesn’t come back at all—lost forever in slushpile limbo?

One of the first hurdles a developing writer has to face is submission anxiety. You are about to send your baby out into the harsh cold world. A rejection of your work is likely to feel very much like a personal rejection as well.

I’m not going to downplay that because it hurts to be rejected. I have collected my rejection letters and hold them proudly as badges announcing “By God, I tried!” which is more than lots of aspiring authors can say as their MS lingers on their hard drive until it turns to cyberdust. But it still hurts to hear my work isn’t wanted.

Fanfiction can be a wonderful place to begin getting over that anxiety and start letting go of your work in a friendlier, safer, more accepting environment. Most Fanfiction reviewers are kind and encouraging. Sure, you’ll get constructive criticism if you ask for it. But you’ll mainly hear reinforcement of what they liked.

I’m going to get more in-depth later on with how to read your reviews, but to begin, it’s good to just start hearing from readers to help you gain confidence in your writing and in submitting it.

The best way to get reviews is to leave reviews. If you haven’t started reviewing other pieces and narrowing down the fandom you want to start writing in, this is the week to do it. Build relationships by reviewing other authors who are currently working. Or if you find a piece you love that’s been out a few years, review it as well. I get reviews on fics that are five years old and still love it and still respond to them.

Oh, yes, as an author you can respond to the reviewer and thank them or answer questions. But your first lesson in getting reviews is this---just like in the traditional publishing world, DO NOT RESPOND TO A NEGATIVE REVIEW IN ANY WAY. Just let it go. If somebody trolls you really badly and leaves all kinds of nastiness, you can remove the review or report them. But the best thing to do is LEAVE IT.

So get out there, start reviewing and start thinking about your fandom and even start working on your piece.

Nextweek we’ll get down to the nitty-gritty on the types of fanfiction and somesuggestions for where to start writing.

Why YOU Should Be Writing Fanfiction

Fan + Fiction = Fanfiction

A FREE Creative Writing Course: Lesson One

Ah, fanfiction. It has such a bad reputation in many circles as being the literary domain of angst-ridden teenagers who dream of shooting Bella in the face and marrying Edward themselves. And it is absolutely not a writing cred in any publishing circle and you should deny deny deny that you have ever written a page of fanfiction if an editor or agent asks.

However, I am going to tell you why you DO need to be writing fanfiction and why you should be darned proud of it.

First of all, some of the best-written, most entertaining works of fiction I have ever read have been fanfiction. Sure, there’s crap to be found, but that’s to be said of traditional publishing as well. Unless you just want to be a snob for snobbishness’s sake, let go of the quality idea and the stereotypes and embrace the real power of fanfiction.

What power? you ask.

If you are a developing writer, fanfiction can be the best, cheapest, most fulfilling creative writing course you ever took. Answer the following:

• Do you really want to write but have no idea what?
• Do you know what you want to write but have no idea how to turn it into a book?
• Do you want to write but just want to have fun with it rather than selling your soul to the publishing industry?
• Do you have a secret burning desire to put two unlikely characters from your favorite movie/book/TV show together just to see what happens?
• Do you have a favorite book/movie/TV show that has officially ended (oh, say Firefly or Harry Potter) and you are still upset by this and want more more more?

If you answered yes to any of these, then you should absolutely be writing fanfiction.

Fanfiction has a long, stellar history (what is Shakespeare’s work but a fanfiction treatment of Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans?) and has spawned some works of serious literary merit (think Wide Sargasso Sea—Jane Eyre fanfiction). It is the purest, best form of literary criticism. Good writing induces a desire to produce more good writing, to enter into the text completely in a joint creative act.

And what better way to explore a work than to spin out a new work from it? I firmly believe that if an author wants to know what readers really think about his work, he needs to read the fanfiction.

For the next few weeks, I’m going to run a blog series here called Fanfiction Workshop. This is Lesson One—Get Over Yourself and Embrace the Concept.

Your homework is to go read some fanfiction. Two of the biggest sites are www.fanfiction.net (where I am Arcole BTW) and www.archiveofourown.org (commonly known as AO3 where I’m waiting for my invite, along with the rest of the world). You can also find fanfiction at LiveJournal and Deviant Art.

Pick a movie/book/TV show etc. that you just freaking loved and dig around a bit in the archives on it. See how many fics are already out there. That will give you an idea of how likely you will be to get reviews on your work. Read and review while you are there. Somebody worked really hard on that piece. Give ‘em some love. It’s not like they can get a royalty check.

WARNING: Those of you who answered NO to the first three questions should be warned—fanfiction is addictive. If you are already a successful novelist with an agent/publisher and work to be doing, stay away. But if you are in the developing stages, this course can help you tremendously. Trust me.

So, what do you think? You in? Comment! It’s just like leaving a review at fanfiction.net! Subscribe by email so you won't miss Lesson Two--Overcoming Submission Anxiety One R&R at a Time! And share so the rest of the world can start writing too!

Sountrack of Pain

I just left the dentist's office and for the first time in my life, I am still laughing about it.

To me, the worst part of getting a filling is the sound of the drill. So I had the forethought to bring along the iPod and a set of good headphones, hoping that a little loud music would take care of it.

One of my favorite albums at the moment is Joris de Man's soundtrack to Killzone 3, a first-person shooter video game. In fact, go right now and start playing the first track, "And Ever We Fight On". It is a truly beautiful piece of music.

There's something invigorating about working to such purposeful music. The intense pieces make everything I do seem like a super-important covert mission for the government. If I'm posting on Facebook, it feels more like I'm communicating from my safehouse, sending out coded warnings about the impending alien invasion.

But the opening tracks aren't intense. They are sweepingly beautiful. While I was waiting for the shot to numb my mouth so the drilling could begin, I chilled out with the majestic flow, feeling like I was surfing the stars in my spaceship.

Unfortunately, just as the dentist lowered the light into my face, the tracks took a more sinister turn, and my imaginary spaceship was suddenly hijacked by savage aliens intent on drilling holes into my skull.

If I ever picked a sountrack of pain, this was it! This is music specifically written to make an imaginary life-threatening situation feel real. And the dentist is plenty threatening as it is. I realized I did not need the torture-chamber soundtrack to help it along.

I sat up, laughing like crazy. In fact, the dentist probably thought I was, especially since I was not on any happy gas to induce the giggles. I explained that I had to change tracks and switched to my next choice, Metallica's black album. It turns out that at extreme volume "Enter Sandman" drowns out the drill completely. In fact it sort of harmonized at times in a weird way.

The whole ordeal was over in the time it took the track to play and I was left with a numb mouth and a headache. But thanks to the quick intervention of James Hetfield and crew, at least maybe I won't have nightmares about alien abduction set to the Killzone 3 soundtrack.

...And What A Year It's Been!

Wow! Musa Publishing is a year old!

That means that I've been a published author for an entire year. I was fortunate enough that my first novel, The Blacksmith's Daughter, was chosen as the first release for Musa's Euterpe line for YA fiction. Everything about that experience transformed my vision of my book, my writing, and myself. I cannot thank everyone at Musa enough for bringing me on board and giving my work a chance.

The folks at Musa brought my work to an audience I could never have reached on my own. It won first place in the OK RWA International Digital Awards for YA long novel. I have actually had a book signing. All this was because Musa Publishing believed in this book.

But the support didn't end with the book's release. Over the past year Musa has offered workshops that cover everything from writing hot blurb copy to book contracts to finding an agent. I have enjoyed and learned from every single one. (I laughed a lot during "How to Write Love Scenes" but learned a great deal during that one too! Some things I didn't really want to know. . . )

Even more wonderful is the incredible group of writers that call Musa home. Everyone helps promote and support each other so generously. Furthermore, I can personally attest to the quality of the work coming out of Musa because I have read a number of Musa books. Every time I finish one I am that much prouder that I am part of the Musa group.

CONTEST: In celebration of this fantastic event, everyone who follows my blog and leaves a comment with their email address will be entered to win a pdf copy of The Blacksmith's Daughter, the perfect format for reading on the Kindle Fire that will be given away to one lucky bloghopper!!! And I am sweetening the pot to include a $10 MUSA PUBLISHING gift card. Yes, I want you to read my stuff, but I want you to read other Musa authors as well!!  Also, please friend me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/arley.cole.

In case you don't win or just don't feel very lucky, here's the link to an exerpt from The Blacksmith's Daughter and an easy buy link at the fabulous Musa Publishing website (the Amazon link is up at the top).

 

The Blacksmith's Daughter by Arley Cole

 

 

Now before I forget, here are the rules of the bloghop again:

Rules to Hop

1) HAVE FUN!!!

2) INVITE ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS!!! SPREAD THE WORD!!!

3) THIS TOUR STARTS: October 1, at Midnight (pst)

THIS TOUR ENDS: Monday, October 7, at Midnight (pst)

Winners will be drawn and posted October 9th! ***

Come Join the Party on October 7th at The Romance Review Forum to enter to win more prizes. http://www.theromancereviews.com/forum/ (Exact address will be posted as soon as I get it)

4) PARTICIPATION AT ALL BLOGS IS RECOMMENDED, BUT NOT REQUIRED. REMEMBER, THE MORE BLOGS YOU HOP and COMMENT ON, THE BETTER YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING PRIZES. EVERY AUTHOR & BOOK PAGE IS WAITING TO MEET AND INTERACT WITH YOU, SO PLEASE BE SURE TO SHOW THEM SOME LOVE!

5)Grand Prize of a Kindle Fire is for US and Canada mailing addresses only. International winners will receive a $50.00 Musa Gift Card. Winner will be announced on October 7, 2012 at 11 est at The Romance Review Forum.

6) DID I MENTION TO HAVE FUN? ***Authors & Book Pages have full discretion to choose an alternate winner in the event any winner fails to claim their prize(s) within 72 hours of their name being posted or after notification of win, whichever comes first. Anyone who participates in this blog hop tour is subject to these rules.***

To go back to the Linky Link and visit more blogs for MORE CHANCES TO WIN a Kindle Fire and other great prizes, click here!!!

 

 

Clarissa Johal Goes Paranormal!

I recently had the chance to interview the super cool Clarissa Johal about her upcoming novel Between (Musa Publishing December 2012). Clarissa's blog "Writing with Scissors" is so much fun to read I wanted to be the first in line to talk to her about writing paranormal fiction.

Between is a paranormal novel, right? How do you approach the paranormal? What do you find interesting in this genre?

Between is a story of the paranormal, yes. I approach it in this novel as being a part of the protagonists “normal” world because she can see spirits; they disturb her but it isn’t unusual for her to see them. Personally, I’ve always felt there are many things in this world we have yet to understand. That’s how I approach writing the paranormal. Yes, it sounds fantastical, but who’s to say one person’s fantastical isn’t another person’s reality? And who’s to say their reality isn’t real?

I find the paranormal genre interesting because it leaves so much wide open as to what you can write about. Anything is possible. Plus, I feel that it’s becoming more widespread and acceptable to admit to believing in the paranormal. Kind of coming about full-circle, if you will. Five hundred years ago, people believed in ghosts, fifty years ago, not so much. Now, I think we’re kind of getting back to that belief stage but trying to “prove” through science that ghosts exist. I find it interesting.

 What qualities does your lead have in Between that make him/her compelling to you? Why did you want to write his/her story?

Well, my two lead male characters wouldn’t leave me alone to write the YA novel I was working on. So, I have to say, I had no choice but to share their story! But Lucinda, my lead protagonist, believes whole-heartedly that everything can be saved. She’s a veterinarian, which is a quality you want in that field. I wanted to write her like that because it’s something that I feel people grow out of. As we mature, it becomes evident that every life can’t be saved, sometimes death takes a hand and takes it without our permission. I wanted Lucinda to still hold onto the belief that she could save every life. It’s what attracts my male antagonist to her because he’s coming from a period in time where nothing anybody did could spare the lives of those you loved.

That sounds really interesting to explore. I am particularly intrigued by the hint that he's not from around here, so to speak!

Tell me about the most unusual inspiration you’ve encountered. What’s the strangest thing that ever inspired a story in you?

I have to say, this story has been the strangest story to come about. Like I said, I was writing the second installment to my YA series and the two male characters kept popping into my head—to the point where I couldn’t concentrate on what I was working on. I knew they definitely didn’t belong in a YA novel. So, I started writing Between and it came fast. There were times I’d write for an eight hour stretch and go back to read what I’d written and not remember writing any of it. I’d dream in Gaelic and Latin, which I don’t know. I’d wake at two in the morning, write it down and look it up the next day to realize that some of the translation actually made sense. It sounds loony tunes, and I realize that, but that was my experience. There were historical details I wrote, and then in checking my facts later, were spot on. So, I don’t know. Strange way to write and definitely not the usual way I write.

 Whoa! I never yet dreamed in a foreign language and I thought my dreams were trippy. That adds a whole fresh layer of paranormal to this book, Clarissa!

So, finally what’s the most unexpected place on earth you want to visit and why?

My friends and family know how much I love Scotland, especially the rainy, cool weather. But, I’ve always wanted to visit the Amazon rain forest. I’m not a fan of insects nor do I like the heat, but I would love to see and experience the wildlife there. My hobby is photography, so I would definitely take my camera with me.

Very neat place! But I agree with the savage bugs. I think I'll just join you on your next trip to Scotland instead!

So to whet everybody's appetite for more  Between, here's a taste of what's to come!

Between

Coming from Musa Publishing on December 14, 2012

 
Since Lucinda was a young girl, she's been able to see spirits, a gift that didn't come without its problems. Now a dedicated young veterinarian, she is committed to the idea that everything can be saved. When Lucinda is involved in a car accident that kills her fiancé, she is devastated and moves to a small town to live a life of self-imposed exile. There, she meets a newcomer and feels an immediate connection with him.

However, there is another mysterious stranger to the small town, one that stirs within her a mixture of unease and desire. The spiritual activity around her intensifies as Lucinda is increasingly haunted by memories of the accident. As she is drawn into a bitter tug-of-war by the forces around her, she is likewise pulled into a dangerous twist of past and present events. Forced to make difficult choices, she surprisingly finds that the two men are locked in not only a battle for her life . . . but a battle for their salvation.

Now go friend Clarissa and follow her awesome blog, "Writing with Scissors"!!!   

Author website:  http://clarissajohal.com/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001014803686

Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/ClarissaJohal

Blogger:  http://clarissajohal.blogspot.com/

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Clarissa-Johal/e/B003KVTMPK

I Put the FAN in Fantasy: Mystery Men

The cast of Mystery Men

In compliance with my recent pledge to myself and everybody else on the Internet, I am amping up the "weird" factor in my web presence to better reflect my truly geeky self. In particular, I am starting a series of posts about one of my absolute FAVORITE topics in the world--fanfiction.

Fanfiction has a less than stellar reputation in the serious publishing industry, but there are at least 2.2 million users posting stories in 30 languages around the world at the biggest site www.fanfiction.net. And that doesn't count all you anonymous lurkers out there who read and NEVER REVIEW. Yes, I'm talking to you. Just drop a note that says, "I read this. It was good." You'll be making some poor non-paid author's day (mine included). Plus there are loads more sites like Live Journal and Deviant Art that post fics too.

So in honor of my long held personal and academic interest in the phenomenon of fanfiction, I'm going to address one of the first elements of writing it:

Have a burning desire to write that story.

For instance, I love the movie Mystery Men. It's such a fabulous tribute to, spoof of, and exploration of the superhero movie. In this world, nearly everybody has some kind of weird, marginal superpower. The Shoveler who can shovel really really well. Spleen whose gas is silent but extremely violent. Mr. Furious who gets really mad---really mad. The Blue Rajah who throws forks---hey, anybody can throw a knife, but a fork? Invisible Boy who is only invisible when nobody is watching him and it somehow works. And my favorite, The Bowler with her signature bowling ball containing the skull of her dead father, Carmine the Bowler.

I adore this movie, but I have never once been afflicted with a fanfiction story about it. Maybe the movie wound up all the plot bunnies. Maybe there wasn't somebody I just had to see hooked up (romance is a major thread in my fics). For whatever reason, as much as I loved the characters in Mystery Men, I never wanted to write about them. So I didn't.

Too many times, we writers of "real" fiction spend a lot of time studying the market and trying to come up with the next Harry Potter or Twilight or Hunger Games or Shades of Grey. So we end up with this uninspired pastiche Dirty Harry Games Taking Place at Dusk and we wonder why there are no takers on the manuscript. It's because the burning desire ain't burning.

If, by some chance, you are like me and need your muse to get off her rear and go to work, you better find an affliction of plot. You better stir up an itch you have got to scratch. Fantasize about it. Tumble over the thoughts in the top of your head until they began to bother you at night.

If your original plot isn't coming together, never fear! A great way to break loose the creative mojo is to write a little fanfiction. What's a movie or tv show you love? What is the one thing that never happened in it that you always wished you could see? Now write it. Run it up the digital flagpole at fanfiction.net and see who salutes it.

Trust me, somebody out there really wants to read it---unless it just sucks eggs. In that case, definitely start writing fanfiction and work on your creative chops. Learn from your reviews. Ask for honest opinions. Get beta readers. The only way we get good at our craft is to practice it. Fanfiction is a super accessible, fun, free way to toss your pearls before a built in audience and get nearly instant feedback.

But whatever you do, DO NOT start writing Harry Potter fics just because they are so incredibly popular. You MUST have a burning desire to write this piece above all others. Some of my very best work is in the Earth2 fandom---a small but very loyal group---and some of my best writing cohorts and internet best friends started right there (I'm talking to you, NatX!) I wouldn't be where I am without those fics and those readers. They made me better.

So what are you waiting for? Inspiration? Let me toss out a few ideas---romances that never came to fruition, minor characters whose stories beg to be told, missing pieces of the big picture (I'm thinking lots of Firefly fics), continuations of stories that have "officially" ended. Any of these can be your sandbox to play in.

Meanwhile, if you want to read mine----gotta plug myself for a second 'cause I just ADORE reviews---I am at www.fanfiction.net/~arcole and you can always check out my first real published novel The Blacksmith's Daughterat http://musapublishing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=6&products_id=14  from Musa Publishing.

Now what are you waiting for? Go get afflicted with plot!!